Affordable Care Act Round-Up: 4 Million to Sign Up For Insurance, Investors Say

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A survey of financial investors showed that Wall Street believes at least 4 million Americans will sign up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

Updated at 1:40 PM EDT on Thursday, Sep 19, 2013

A survey of financial investors showed that Wall Street believes at least 4 million Americans will sign up for health insurance through the newly created online exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act. That estimate, however, is less than the 7 million Americans the Obama administration expects to sign up once the exchanges open on Oct. 1.

Investors expect 4 million Americans to sign up for health insurance under the new online state marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act, according to a survey released Monday.

The expectations of the 56 investors surveyed by Citigroup fall short of the Congressional Budget Office's forecast that 7 million Americans will sign up for subsidized health insurance when open enrollment begins on Oct. 1. Americans have six months to sign up for coverage in 2014.

Wall Street is closely monitoring the progress of enrollment as health coverage means more new paying customers for insurers and hospitals.

Officials involved in implementing the Affordable Care Act anticipate a fairly busy start of the healthcare open enrollment on Oct. 1, followed by a drop-off for several weeks.

A small uptick could occur just before Dec. 15 – the deadline for buying a policy before coverage begins on Jan. 1, 2014. A final rush is expected ahead of March 31, the last day to buy coverage and avoid a penalty.

The Obama administration expects at least 7 million people to sign up via the exchanges, but needs that number to include about 2.7 million young, healthy participants for the program to work financially.

Published at 7:43 AM EDT on Sep 18, 2013

For complete coverage of the Affordable Care Act implementation as well as tools, calculators, state-by-state information and a detailed FAQ, visit our ACA section.